The Little Shopper 4"x4" figurative oil #369

One of the things I really like about the dailypaintworks.com challenges is that when I have a few days or a week when I don't do the daily paintings, I can go there and get an instant idea and do a quick warm-up that gets me right back into painting in a very freeing way.  This challenge focused on a photo with a very busy background and the challenge was about how to handle the background.  I cropped the photo significantly so I didn't have much background to deal with and just kept the whole thing loose and suggestive (which works in painting but not so much in personal actions).  Carol Marine liked the little girl's dress.  I was fascinated with the universal concept of a little girl going shopping and mimicking her female adult shopping role models.  My granddaughter grabs her little purse and assumes the posture of the shopper.  I cut out her face, because I didn't really like the facial expression, and it sticks with the universal theme here.  $60 +SH

Carnival Kiss 5x7" oil #236

This is another Carol Marine challenge. The idea is to do each stroke a different color. That means you have to mix each time before putting the brush on the canvas. The main thing it did for me is make me really think about my strokes and make them count which keeps it fresh looking and loose. It is a carnival squash, an onion, and a garlic.
SOLD

Shot Experiment 8"x8" oil #231

Let's see...how many ways can it go wrong? I did the Carol Marine challenge to do a series of 10 minute paintings of the same object (yes they are the same!). So, how can you make this difficult exercise even more difficult? Well, I chose a weird shaped clear shot glass and I am not very used to painting clear glass. Then I decided to change the lighting for each one and the angle/height. The shadows were really weird too because it was overhead top-down lighting. Then I don't think the palette I chose was quite right....anyway it was difficult and I learned a lot (like I think the next time I do this I will choose a box or orange.....